Verizon Turns Up The Music

Historical Handset Restrictions Make this Unattractive

Verizon goes out of there way to ensure that you cannot freely move YOUR content back and forth from YOUR cell phone and then tout this service for the fact that you can move music back and forth from your cell phone to your PC - as long as you purchase it from them for up to $2 along with software, a flash card, USB cable, etc. They should have debuted this offering as a subscription service that is included with your vCast $15 monthly charge.

psuser said:Verizon goes out of there way to ensure that you cannot freely move YOUR content back and forth from YOUR cell phone and then tout this service for the fact that you can move music back and forth from your cell phone to your PC - as long as you purchase it from them for up to $2 along with software, a flash card, USB cable, etc. They should have debuted this offering as a subscription service that is included with your vCast $15 monthly charge.

Do you want everything for free??? No other carrier allows you to download music without a charge per song. Sprint is $2.50 per song. Cingular charges the iTunes price -- until they have HSDPA up and running. What more do you want???

he just waNts some cheese with that wine! OH and you CAN move it back and forth. IT'S ON A SD MEMORY CARD, ya KNOW that one that you can TAKE OUT OF YOUR OLD phone and into your NEW phone! OR take OUT of your PHONE and INTO your MEMORY CARD READER THAT YOU CAN PICK UP FROM FRY'S FOR $7! LOL - everyone's out to get ya tho!

I don't know if Verizon will do this, but with Sprint, if you download music onto a card, and then pop that card into another phone, it won't play. When you download a song it registers itself to the ESN of the phone.

I'm hoping that Sprint lowers their price down to compete with VZW.

I know in other countries you can download songs as low as 9 cents a song.

CptFarlow said:I don't know if Verizon will do this, but with Sprint, if you download music onto a card, and then pop that card into another phone, it won't play. When you download a song it registers itself to the ESN of the phone.

I'm hoping that Sprint lowers their price down to compete with VZW.

I know in other countries you can download songs as low as 9 cents a song.

No...this is NOT true. You are able to move your flash card to/from phone and still have the song play. At least, it works between the two A920s that I have.

Before I got my A920, I downloaded a few songs on my bosses phone, and put them on my memory card. Later I put that card into another phone, and they would not play at all. This only applies to songs downloaded from Sprint Music Store. It will say that it doesn't have to license to play the song.

My other experience is after I had my A920, I changed my phone number. After I programed my new number into my phone, the songs I had just downloaded into my phone wouldn't work, saying the same thing.

I just fail to see how that would be worth doing a complete software revamp on a phone.

I understand that some of you have razrs and you feel cheated b/c there is a music player, but no way to play music, but it is somewhat absurd to effect a multi-million dollar rerelease of software so that users can download and listen to 5 or six songs.

it is also kind of a foolish notion to want to download music and only be able to listen to 5 or 6 songs for your entire time you are away from your computer. if you need portable music so badly that you gotta get your 5 song fix in, then buy a CD and a CD player, use a CD burner, mp3 player, or whatever.

You don't have to buy the song for $2 a piece. It's only $2 if you want the song sent to your PC and your phone.

Okay so you have to buy a memory card to transfer music, big whoop. Everyone who listens to mp3s on their phone has a memory card so that's not a big deal at all. Why do you think that's such a big deal?

Included in the $15 charge? You do know for each time a song is downloaded, they have to send a royalty check to that record label. If VZW were to do that, you would see a lot of freeriding and that's not good economics. Besides, this service will compete with iTunes and the operational business model of VZW Music is almost identical with iTunes. Since iTunes is successful, why change the business model?

Not all phones have a memory card slot - including my just purchased RAZR v3c. Not a VZW Hater - been with them for many years and am probably one of the few posting here that actually pays the $15/mo. for vCast. vCast, which I like (but feel it could use some additional offerings to justify the cost), would have more subscribers if this service was not offered as song downloads, but rather as a Subscription service bundled with the monthly vCast fee.

3d beach mini golf and zuma were both worht the bucks i paid for them. I think zuma was like 6.99, if you order that full game of the web for your laptop it is 14.99 so i don't they are really rippen me off. I have a xbox 360 so games are not my main concern, but i don't have my xbox when i am waiting to pick some up, in the line at the bank, waiting to see the doctor and whatnot so it is nice to kill some time with these on my phone, but i don't bitch about paying for them.

What are you guy, six? If you want a phone to play games and video with no consideration with the service, by all means go with someone else. It's a very simple principle. If you can't afford it, don't buy it. This is a PREMIUM service with PREMIUM content. Quality costs, and if you're not willing to shell out for quality, there's always Tracfone.

If it were PREMIUM service, then I wouldn't have to argue with customer service over the plan changes I called for last month that they didn't do. I wouldn't have to step outside my building to get service - and I am in a small, standalone store.

As with all technology, you pay a premium for being the first to use it. Vcast and related features are a bit high at the moment because Verizon has to pay for the freshly built data network. If they went to the trouble of making a faster network but didn't make money from it, what would justify them building another in the future? (except maybe for competition) Sprint's charges are not much different from Verizon's and I would expect Cingular's charges to also be the same. So until the carriers get more competitive, get used to the prices.

That's why I haven't switched to Verizon. Since the merge, Cingular has attained excellent coverage in my area and cheap plans. (and I don't deal with customer service on a daily basis, although I have noticed an improvement) Personally, I see no need to shell out the extra cash for "america's most reliable network".

Included in the plan price or not, you will still be paying for internet access for Nascar updates. If it bothers you that much, you may want to check out the new ESPN Sprint MVNO.

It's easy to say Verizon has the best service..but it's all relative. Yes Verizon has the most cell towers and coverage in the U.S. But you do pay a premium for this. Verizon used to be the only game in town..other carriers have caught up in major markets like Southern California. I never get dropped calls with my Sprint service, their voice plans are a much better VALUE, their EVDO is cheaper and a bit faster, they have mp3 downloads AND streaming internet radio at cd quality, plus LIVE TV not video clips. Best yet..Sprint roams onto Verizon's network for FREE with a simple phone setting. I had Verizon and will never go back to a company the cripples phones bluetooth and installs their own branded software for full control of their ph...(continues)

It's easy to say Verizon has the best service..'cus it most cases, it does.

I live in SoCal, an' spend a lot of time both there an' in NorCal (Hayward/Oakland & San Jose areaa). Trust me, Verizon beats Sprint in both areas (tho' the gap is probably bigger up north). Both Consumer Reports an' JD Power agree too.

Sprint a better value? Depends. On their Family plans, they do give you a little more minutes than Verizon fo' the same money. On individual plans, not really.. 400 Anytime minutes for $35, plus 50 more minutes for another $5 if I go over? Sounds a lot like Verizon's 450 Anytime minutes for $40 when you add it up to me. Tho' the Fair & Flexible thing is nice if you chronically go over your minutes. But T-mobile is che...(continues)

It IS all relative. I 2 lines with Sprint and one with Verizon and if it weren't for the fact that I have an amazing plan with Verizon, I'd drop it by now. The other Sprint line is my dad's whom I switched over FROM Verizon due to price savings. The service they provide is no better than my Sprint service. In fact, I prefer the latter because they don't cripple your phone anywhere near as much. Talk to customer service courteously and they'll respect you back. I don't remember the last time I had a rep that was rude. The only time I ever see my phone "Searching For Service" is when I first turn it on. So, yes, Verizon isn't the only game in town. It surprises me how so many people are brainwashed into thinking Verizon is the best and ...(continues)

halo said: So, yes, Verizon isn't the only game in town. It surprises me how so many people are brainwashed into thinking Verizon is the best and insult other carriers without direct experience with them.

My apologies for contradictin' y'all, but I DO have direct experience wit' Sprint.

Hey System..you dont need to get back to me on anything..Sprint DOES roam on Verizon and you can use half your allotted minutes on their network if needed. Listen to these responses to yours. I have had both services too. You don't seem to realize that other carriers have improved their network drastically to compete. It's all about VALUE. I'm not saying Sprint has the best customer services..honestly i could care less. Sprint has a great network with services that Verizon doesn't offer at a MUCH better price. Lets take another example...unlimited PDA EVDO on Verizon runs $49, it's $15 on Sprint. When you say Verizon has better service, if you mean reception, then i agree with you..as I said they have more towers. And if I traveled ...(continues)

Your obviously very high on Sprint. Thats great, if they work good for y'all, then don' fix what ain't broke. But for me, an' pretty much everyone I know, Verizon works better than anyone else out here in Cali. Contrary to what someone else said, that ain't brainwashin', that's just experience plus research.

Far as value goes, if Sprint would get rid of the extra 5 bucks they charge for mobile-to-mobile (boo), then I might agree wit' you on what a good value they is. But I still see Sprint chargin' for M2M. What's up wit' dat?

I also hear Sprint's customer service ain't very good at all. That bothers me, 'cus I don' want to get a rude cat on the phone wit' me when I have a problem. Life's too short, know what I'm sayin'?

I don' know evilB.. I jus' never run into any of these allegedly bad VZW CS guys. The closest thing to a bad one so far is when I found out there was a mixup at Best Buy (where I bought my phone) which cost me like 3 bucks (BB rep error).

At first the VZW CS rep was like "Well, that isn't very much money".. an didn't offer me anything. But that wasn't what the call was really about, I was jus' confirmin' what had been done contract-dates-wise at BB.

But then I get my next bill, an' sure enough, I'm credited fo' the whole amount that Best Buy messed up on, even tho' I hadn't insisted on that. Nice.

Oh, an' no prob on the civility thing. Life would be better if peeps did not hate, so I try not to.

molsky99 said:Hey System..you dont need to get back to me on anything..Sprint DOES roam on Verizon and you can use half your allotted minutes on their network if needed.

Jus' wanted to add that apparently the Verizon-Sprint roaming agreement is NOT a silver bullet for all of Sprint's network inadequacies. As was explained to me:

While they do have roaming agreements setup, the key is that the PRLs disallow roaming onto the other carriers network where there is native coverage.

For example. Sprint has their own coverage in Washington DC as does Verizon. So a Sprint phone is programmed as Sprint ONLY in that zone. You leave Washington DC and go to an area that Sprint does NOT have native coverage t
...(continues)

Your "example" doesn't make sense. San Diego and Los Angeles are coverage areas for Sprint and Verizon. I can switch my phone anytime to "roaming only" mode and pick up their signal. Not that I need to since I find Sprint's coverage is fine in both cities. If Sprint is that good here then I'm sure there other cities where consumers can benefit from lower prices, great call quality, and more features from the cellular provider. Like I said..it's all relative and I'm so happy Verizon works for you. However, consumers need to realize the other options out there and how they can be benefitting from them. I just got back from the CES show in Vegas and in talking to other trade show executives, many agree that Sprint has come a long way and...(continues)

I don' know moisky.. the guy I talked to on the Verizon forum didn't seem to agree wit' you on that one. Maybe come on over some time an' talk roamin' wit' them?

To me, it also jus' does not make logical sense for VZW to give unrestricted non-roaming access to their network to Sprint customers. There's roamin', after all, an' then there's livin' off of VZW's network. VZW has no incentive to allow the later, since their network is better overall in most places than Sprint's, and a key selling point for 'em.

Oh, an Sprint coverage is okay in both cities.. jus' not as quite as good as Verizon, in my experience. Consumer Reports seemed to agree, from what I remember. If bein' on Sprint is the same as bein' on Verizon, then why did Verizon...(continues)

I spoke to executives at Sprint and Verizon at the CES show in Las Vegas and they confirmed it. The restriction is you can only use half you alotted minutes on roaming. I definately believe Verizon is NOT worth the price in the Southern California market. I know all about consumer reports and the jdpower reports. I also know most people are happy paying more for Verizon because of previous experience with Sprint. I make up my own decisions and do my own research. The Sprint network has been upgraded drastically and I drive from LA to San Diego without dropping a call. I would drop 3 times with Verizon. They get the most improved award. Sprint simply offers more features for less money. Most people will not see a difference in cover...(continues)

molsky99 said:I definately believe Verizon is NOT worth the price in the Southern California market.

That's where I spend a lot of time, and I strongly disagree.

I gave Sprint a chance, Verizon was better. End o' story. But given that VZW is pissin' me off with their crippled bluetooth and crippled mp3 crap, I'll be happy ta give Sprint a looksee once my contract is up to see if they're on par with Verizon by then.

Oh..and I agree the music downloads are too expensive. However, i don't need an ipod..my 512mb trans flash card on my phone works great. Plus I get 20 stations of cd quality internet music from Sprint. Or I can choose Sirius Satellite Radio.